Nutritional Nugget: Acai

Acai is pronounced ah-sigh-ee and is a berry fruit that comes to the us from Central and South America. Acai grows on a palm tree and the berries are handpicked when ripe. We at Superfoods Café and Market offer acai as a booster in our smoothies, we also have an acai smoothie bowl that is delicious, and you can also buy it as a powder form to place it in your smoothies. The acai berry has received great recognition for its antioxidant abilities as a pilot study suggested by Sadowska-Krepa et. al (2015). The study showed that blood serum taken from athletes showed antioxidant level increase as well as reduced oxidative stress. There are studies that show that the skin of acai berry is known to lower cholesterol and provides anti-inflammatory abilities as Watson (2012) explains. Lowering cholesterol is important to preventing atherosclerosis. The acai berry was once native to the Amazon and today it has become part of our vocabulary no matter how one might mispronounce the name it will always be known as a rich purple berry with wonderful benefits.

References:

Sadowska-Krepa, E., Klapcinska, B., Podgorski, T., Szade, B., and Tyl, K. (2015). Effect of supplementation with acai (Euterpe Oleracea Mart.) berry- based juice blend on the blood antioxidant defense capacity and lipid profile in junior hurdlers. A pilot study. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4447763/

Watson, E. (2012, January 11). Retrieved from: https://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Article/2012/01/11/Acai-lowers-cholesterol-and-attenuates-atherosclerosis-rabbit-study